Seeing a shark leap out of the ocean is a breath-taking sight to behold, but not one many people get to witness. The great white sharks that frequent the waters around Seal Island off the south coast of South Africa are famous for this behavior, which is called breaching. Over recent months, however, reports of … Read more
We have all heard stories of animals fleeing an area before a big storm of earthquake hits. This is because mobile species have the choice to move with changing environmental conditions to an area that is more suitable. Usually, these animals are land-based, but would ocean-dwelling species like sharks do the same thing? Now with … Read more
Parthenogenesis, from the Greek meaning “virgin birth” is an odd quirk of embryonic development that allows female animals of some species to give rise to offspring without a male genetic contribution – usually by a doubling of the egg genome to generate a new embryo with the proper number of chromosomes. Parthenogenesis has also been … Read more
Mike Neumann of Beqa Divers, that organizes the Fiji Shark Dive often describes his ventures as a conservation project masquerading as a dive shop. His ultimate goal: protection the sharks of Fiji. Started in 2003, the Fiji Shark Project resulted in the establishment of Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji’s first MPA dedicated to researching and … Read more
We do not yet know much about the reproductive strategies of sharks and rays. Sharks have probably been very successful through evolution because they have adapted their reproduction to many different conditions. Many sharks bear live young (viviparity), others lay eggs (oviparity). Several shark species mate the entire year, others prefer certain seasons and regions. … Read more
Sharks are living in a changing ocean… Understanding how sharks sense and interact with their environment is vital for sustaining populations of these marine predators, which support the health of oceans around the world. Overfishing is the greatest known threat, but pollution and other environmental changes may affect the natural signals that sharks need for … Read more